Joint statement: Human rights organizations hold the Ministry of Interior responsible for the safety of Ahmed Douma and warn it against targeting him over his poetry

The undersigned organizations hold the Ministry of Interior responsible for the safety of political activist and poet Ahmed Douma against the backdrop of remarks by some pro-government preachers who accused him of infidelity, insanity, and apostasy over the introduction to his poetry collection “Curly” and one of his poems. These accusations pose a threat to Douma's life.

The organizations also warn against targeting Douma over charges of contempt of Islam. They call on the Egyptian authorities to stop the clampdown on him, which has been ongoing since he was released under a presidential pardon last August.

Dar Al-Maraya publishing house announced that a seminar on Douma’s poetry collection was postponed for “out-of-hand reasons”, giving no further details. The seminar was scheduled to be held last Saturday at a cultural venue in the Zamalek neighborhood. Meanwhile, the remaining copies of Douma’s collection were withdrawn from bookshops.

The security services are expected to be behind the takfir (the practice of one Muslim declaring another Muslim an infidel) campaign against Douma, as well as the restrictions imposed on his collection of poems. The collection has been targeted since it was first released in 2021, as it was withdrawn from the book fair that year and banned from sale after security personnel passed by the pavilion of the publishing house that displayed the collection and ordered the sellers there to withdraw it, which the publishing house responded to at the time.

The "Curly" collection had obtained the deposit number and all the necessary approvals without any problems until attention was paid to its writer, who was imprisoned at the time for his political activism. The collection had a large-scale promotion campaign at the time. This makes the security services’ responsibility for this campaign more likely.

Using accusations of infidelity and apostasy to target an opposition political activist and poet is a serious matter that threatens the man’s safety and provides pretext for sending him back to prison. Such accusations also set limits for creativity related to understanding the text and its conformity to religious texts. This contradicts Article 67 of the Egyptian constitution, which stipulates that “freedom of artistic and literary creativity is guaranteed, and the state shall encourage arts and literature, sponsor creative artists and writers and protect their productions, and provide the means necessary for achieving this end… and no custodial penalties may be inflicted for crimes committed because of the publicity of artistic, literary or intellectual product”.

The undersigned organizations hold the Ministry of Interior responsible for Douma’s safety and warn against prosecuting him under the pretext that he disdains Islam. They also call for an immediate end to the clampdown on him.

Signatories:

• Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)
•  Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)
•  Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
• Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (Sinaifhr)